Cingular talks the iPhone at CES

Coming away from the Cingular press conference at CES, you got the sense that Cingular is along for what appears to be a wild ride with the new iPhone from Apple. Technically, the two companies are partners but, listening to the details, you got a sense that Apple did its own thing and Cingular waited on the sidelines.

That says more about the Apple culture, which prizes secrecy and control. The phone, which had been in development for at least two years, wasn’t shown to Cingular executives until about 120 days ago. And then, only three execs got to see it. In this case, Cingular had to follow Apple culture and, judging by the lack of big leaks, they did a good job.

Cingular maintains it got Apple to bend plenty, including securing an exlusive partnership. They also got Apple to help promote the iPhone jointly, something Apple normally doesn’t do.

Here’s some other stuff we learned about the Apple iPhone at the Cingular presser with Glenn Lurie, Cingular’s president of national distribution:

— The phone can only be bought with a two-year contract. Existing Cingular subscribers will have to re-up for another two years to get one.

— The exclusive agreement with Cingular is a “multi-year” deal, so don’t expect to see this on any other carrier in the near future.

— Who set the price for the iPhone? It was all Apple.

— Apple owns distribution rights to the iPhone, so expect to see it only in Apple and Cingular stores and on their Web sites. No big-box retail plans for now.

— The iPhone won’t support third-party applications. Why? Ask Apple.

— The phone will remain unlocked.

— No word on HSDPA high-speed data service for the iPhone, although Lurie said Cingular’s partnership with Apple extends to other devices in this line, alluding to the potential for a faster device. While it runs on EDGE data access, the device has been “optimized” to perform Web functions better.

— Aside from the visual voice-mail feature, which was jointly produced, all iPhone features were developed by Apple.

— Steve Jobs was the one who approached Cingular about extending the relationship to the iPhone after partnering on the Rokr phone.

— The phone hardware won’t be branded with the Cingular name at all, but Cingular or AT&T’s name will appear on every screen on the phone.

— When it finally appears in June, Cingular will be in the process of changing its name to AT&T following the completion of AT&T’s purchase of BellSouth, which owned a stake in Cingular.